Higher Education and Attitudes to Human Rights: Is Israel the Exception that Proves the Rule?

Abstract

In the domestic politics of Israel, the struggle for human rights principally involves the state’s Arab citizens, roughly 20% of the population. In the eyes of many Jewish Israelis, this minority carries Israeli passports but identifies with an Arab-Palestinian nationality, raising fundamental questions about whether it should enjoy the full rights of citizenship. In most societies, tolerance toward minority groups and support for their civil liberties is strongly influenced by higher education but Israeli Jews may be an exception to that generalization for two reasons: (1) the so-called “religion of national security” to which Jewish Israelis are socialized at an early age and (2) the exposure of most Israeli Jews to military service before they begin higher education. These unique experiences raise the possibility that young Israelis may be essentially fixed in their orientations to Israel’s Arab citizens at an early age, preempting the influence of university experience on attitudes to human rights. Using a survey of Israeli university students who entered higher education after military service, we test whether exposure to higher education changes attitudes to the rights of Israeli Arabs and the Israeli-Arab conflict.